| dc.description.abstract | The World Health Organization (WHO) considers violence to be a global public
health problem. It is estimated that 1.6 million people worldwide lost their lives to
violence in 2000. This translates to a global rate of 28.8 deaths per 100 000
population. The end of Apartheid in South Africa in 1994 brought about various economic, social and political transitions within the country, resulting in rapid urbanization, increasing unemployment and deepening inequalities. Consequently, these conditions also brought about increased incidences of crime and violence. The
South African Police Service (SAPS) recorded approximately 2.58 million crimes
in 2000. The SAPS faced many challenges in transforming the eleven South African Police Forces to a combined South African Police Service in 1994. Literature has indicated that while serious crimes increased, the chances of an offender being caught and punished declined between 1994 and 2000.
During the 2002-2003 financial year the SAPS recorded a national homicide rate
of 47.4 per 100 000 population. The Western Cape and Limpopo province had the
highest and lowest provincial homicide rate of 84.8 and 12.1 per 100 000
population respectively. Other studies indicated that city-specific homicide rates
for Cape Town increased from 84 to 88 per 100 000 population between 1999 and
2001.
A pilot study conducted in Cape Town during 2003 to determine victim-perpetrator
relationships and motives for homicide that occurred in 1999 was
hampered by difficulties in tracing police dockets, inconsistencies in data
capturing, and the absence of perpetrator information due to some court cases not
being finalized.
It was therefore decided to conduct a qualitative, descriptive, comparative study
between two police stations in Cape Town. Semi-structured interviews were
conducted with police officers at different ranks to document the procedures and
route of reported crimes and to explore the factors impacting on the criminal
investigation process. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and
analysed using thematic content analysis.
The interviews provided an insight to the contextual environment and the attitudes
of police officers regarding the transformation of the SAPS, and identified the
factors impacting on the criminal investigation process at the two selected police
stations. Issues discussed are discipline, restructuring and motivational factors
regarding the transformation process, as well as training courses, the court impact
and the relationship between the detectives and prosecutors. The main constraints
identified at both police stations were human resources, training courses and
vehicles. Social support and community factors are also discussed.
The interviews with police officers revealed that there are various issues of
management at national and provincial level that need to be addressed, such as
detective recruitment standards, training courses and the management of different
crime types to reduce the workload of detectives. The need for closer
collaboration with the courts to avoid the misplacement of dockets and to
minimise delays in the finalisation of court cases was also identified. Previous
studies have also identified blockages within the South African criminal justice
system and it is hoped that this study could highlight those issues that still need to
be addressed. | en_US |
